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That has left critics accusing Brighton council of putting public funds at risk for the sake of “a visual abomination”.

Valerie Payton, who is organising a campaign against its construction, said: “The i360 will be profoundly out of keeping with the rest of the seafront. It will be a huge, wide and monstrously tall steel structure that will be omnipresent and visible from wherever you look in the city and beyond.”

The i360, designed by David Marks and Julia Barfield, the husband and wife team behind the London Eye wheel on the capital’s South Bank, has lain on the drawing board for the past eight years.

But although it received planning permission in 2006 it stalled after being unable to attract the required investment from private lenders.

After a number of potential investors pulled out following the global financial crisis of 2007-9, Marks Barfield Architects were left with £6m of their own money in the project, along with a £4m grant from Coast 2 Capital local enterprise partnership.

Then last month, Green and Conservative Party councillors in Brighton joined forces to vote through a loan application of £36.2m from the Public Works Loan Board to allow construction to begin.

Repayment of the loan would rely on the tower generating enough revenue from visitors.

But Mrs Payton, of the Save Hove campaign, said: “The idea of a viewing platform is hackneyed and old hat. There’s already one down the coast in Weymouth. People don’t fall for that kind of thing anymore.

“To cap it all the security on the loan from Brighton is the tower itself, so if it fails for any reason the city will have to repay the loan. It will be a huge white elephant, with interest payable on it.”

A hoarding, covered in artist’s impressions and information about the i360 currently masks the spot from where the 15ft wide tower will rise high above the Brighton skyline.

A circular, air-conditioned, observation pod would carry around 200 visitors up the tubular tower, turning as it did so to offer them a 360 degree view of Brighton, the English Channel and the Sussex countryside, with visibility on a clear day stretching as far as 25 miles to the chalk cliffs of the Seven Sisters.

The tower will stand in front of the Grade II listed Regency Square, one of the town’s finest, and in line with what was once the walkway leading out to the West Pier.

Despite a campaign for it to be restored, the West Pier has now all but collapsed into the sea, after fire destroyed its wooden pier and cladding in 2003, and storms claimed much of its ornate ironwork.

Parts of the old pier would be incorporated into a glass-fronted display area at the base of the new i360 tower, which would be 18ft taller than the Spinnaker Tower, 57ft taller than Blackpool Tower and dwarf the London Eye by 133ft.

Supporters of the project claim it will create over 160 new jobs and attract as many as 800,000 visitors a year. At the same time they promise it will use “as little energy as possible over its lifetime”, conforming the Brighton’s green ambitions.

David Marks, managing director of Marks Barfield Architects, said: “There is a very strong case for the i360 as part of the wider renewal of Brighton seafront and in terms of tourism it will make a big difference. I get the very strong impression that most people in Brighton want this to go ahead and maybe those who oppose it will change their minds once its been built.”

But opponents remain far from convinced. Since the loan was agreed last month, more than 1,000 people have signed a petition calling for the Public Works Loan Board to refuse the council’s request for funding.

They include architects Paul Zara, of the Conran Partnership, and Paul Nicholson, of Chalk Architecture; Simon Fanshawe, the writer and broadcaster, and Malcolm Dawes, chairman of the Brighton Society.

Critics of the tower say there are parts of Brighton more deserving of investment and regeneration, such as the town’s Churchill Square and conference centre.

Mr Nicholson, who lives and works in Brighton, said: “I’m a fan of sensitive, cutting edge, contemporary architecture, but this is not it. £36m would pay for an amazing new pier from where you could take the air and the view, rather than being stuck inside a glass doughnut going up and down a spike.

“The projected visitor numbers seem wildly optimistic. You have to ask why, if Brighton are so sure of its commercial potential, it has no commercial backers?”

Brighton council defended the loan arrangement, saying that by borrowing the money at one rate of interest, and re-lending it to Marks Barfield Architects at a higher rate, it would net it at least £1m a year for the next 25 years.

Council leader Jason Kitcat, of the Green Party, said: “This is a crucial project for revitalising our tourism industry and our seafront. It will provide an extraordinary and spectacular new centrepiece to our seafront.

“As well as providing a great view out, it changes the way the world views us – distinguishing Brighton and Hove from competitors and signalling that the city is really buzzing.”